with her learning experiences to engage and disengage her. In her own reading and visual habits, Brianna liked scary and suspenseful texts as represented by VC Andrews, JD Robb, Janet Evanovich, and John Grisham.
Not always the ones that are, like, gory… I like the ones that are not always the things that happen but the things that could happen or… that's scary to me. I like to be scared but not really, because, you know, I'm watching a movie. I like anything – I like based on a true story and that kind of stuff I like to read or to watch.
This preference helped to further engage Brianna when her class read scary texts. “I like the Edgar Allan Poe poems we've been reading. Those are interesting.” And Mr. Whitman noted Brianna’s engagement with the Emily
Dickenson project, where “some of Emily Dickenson’s poems are really dark.” He noted, “I think that was one thing with the Emily Dickenson poem, that she found one that spoke to her on that level.”
During one interview, Brianna commented, “I don't like change. I'm very anxious.” This aspect of Brianna’s habitus dominated Brianna’s approach to her out-of-school experiences, but also transferred to her in school experiences. Having been relatively new to a school based on a block schedule where courses changed at semester, it took Brianna a while to find a measure of comfort. This discomfort was most evident during collaborative and cooperative group
assignments. At the beginning of the semester, during observations and from her teacher’s report, Brianna did not interact fluidly with her peers. Mr. Whitman noted, “She doesn’t interact with the others in a way that I would hope that students would.” Brianna countered, “I just like to get to work.” During
observations, Brianna would work on her part alone or just discuss the work at hand in a serious fashion. And even though Brianna stated that she “like[d] to have the class discussions,” she struggled with “trying to get more comfortable with sharing exactly how I feel with other people that I’m not as close with.”
Yet as the semester progressed, Brianna was able to gain a sense of stability and comfort. As Brianna identified herself, “I can be outgoing around people that I'm comfortable with,” Mr. Whitman “noticed her open up a little more just recently in the past few weeks with some of her other classmates.” Even though Brianna’s interactions with collaborative and cooperative groups were
never observed as close or easy, by the end of the semester, Brianna appeared more willing to interact with group members, smile, and even socialize a little. Unfortunately, after 90 days, Brianna had to change courses and classmates for the next round of the block schedule.
A third aspect of Brianna’s habitus that impacted her positioning was her struggles with her memory. From our first interview to our last, Brianna
consistently noted how she struggled with her memory. She often commented, “I cannot retain information very well”; “I have a terrible memory.” As observed in class, when classroom pedagogy incorporated question and response
interactions, Brianna could not help but be inadvertently positioned as struggling learner when she couldn’t respond immediately. “I don’t know off the top of my head,” she asserted. When summative End-of-Course tests focused on
knowledge based recalling knowledge or information, Brianna was positioned as not proficient:
I learned so much and I did really good in all tests and everything in this class. I really enjoyed it when I got to the test and I was like they are really specific questions. That’s when I got like...I didn’t remember any of it.
Because her community presentation of her graduation project required her to speak in an extemporaneous style, Brianna’s memory worked to position her as not successfully learning about her topic to the community judges. Her response to the project suggested her frustration:
So I think I just wanted to get everything said that I was thinking of that would apply to the speech and I couldn’t always remember all of it. So it was hard… I couldn’t write down every single thing that I wanted to say and just have like certain points to touch on so I think not being able to memorize it hurt me there.
Though Brianna was consistently engaged in most of her classes and the
learning experiences she was offered, her obvious struggles with her memory to recall facts and information ultimately helped to not only position her as not proficient, but also as what Mr. Whitman described as a nice student: “They’re mild-mannered polite students. I’d lump her in with those students.”
Figured Worlds X Pedagogy X Positioning. Just as her habitus and
ways of being a good student worked to position her in different ways, the intersection of the figured worlds Brianna inhabited and the pedagogical practices she engaged in positioned her in different ways. In the next three subsections of school, Kleinville High School, and English class, I will show how navigating the figured world of school, and specifically Kleinville High School, was challenging as Brianna repeatedly found herself positioned as struggling learner. Though she was able to access greater opportunities to reposition herself in the figured world of Mr. Whitman’s English class, Brianna was unable to use any of her capital to successfully enact any agency or to reposition herself.
School. Within the figured world of school, Brianna unexpectedly found herself positioned as a struggling learner due to what Holland and Lave (2001) identify as “enduring struggles” that are “historically institutionalized.” As part of the state’s graduation standards, Brianna was required to meet proficiency as
measured on state End-of-Course (EOC) exams in five mandated courses: Algebra I, English I, Civics and Economics, Biology, and US History. Her performance on these tests surprised her:
I like history...I was really surprised that I didn’t pass that exam because I did really good in the class. I did really good on the test. So I don’t know what happened there.…You learned so much and I did really good in all [in-class] tests and everything in this class. I really enjoyed it and when I got to the test and I was like they are really specific questions. That’s when I got like...I didn’t remember any of it.
Brianna had to retest in order to demonstrate proficiency in US History. Ironically, through her out-of-school figured world of family, Brianna had a personal interest and passion for history. “I like to learn about older things…I really wish I could live in the 1900s.” Yet in the figured world of school, Brianna was identified as struggling due to her scores on the EOC exam. This instance illustrated that Brianna’s positioning became “engaged with others in local struggles animated at least in part by the power, if not by the representatives, of pervasive translocal institutions and by discourses widely circulating locally and beyond” (Holland and Lave, 2001, p. 13). Although Brianna had the availability of calling upon her different selves that engaged in learning history, the institutionalized practice of EOCs to determine proficiency positioned Brianna as a struggling learner at risk for graduation.
Reflecting that “anthropologists tend to think of people as living ’in’ culture or ‘in’ history” (Holland and Lave, 2001, p. 217), Linger repositions this
person is the “multiply authored and positioned selves, identities, cultural forms, and local and far-reaching struggles, given together in practice…thus “index[ing] a world of identity, action, contentious practice, and long-term transformative struggles” (2001, p. 30). Brianna’s out-of-school interest in history and in-school engagement in her US History class are aspects that compose her history in person. In contrast, Brianna’s experiences with standardized tests (EOCs) became an enduring struggle within the educational landscape. Holland and Lave differentiate enduring struggles as “struggles of large scope in space and time in part because of the riveting force of such struggles and their undoubtedly urgent impact on practices that affect the authoring of local lived identities” (2001, p. 21). This intersection of History in Person and Enduring Struggles provided the space for Local Contentious Practices where Holland and Lave (2001) see the potential for agency and self-making to occur. But because Brianna was not able to capitalize on her different selves, and her teachers were not aware of her memory struggles, neither she nor her teachers were able to better position her locally or beyond.
Kleinville High School. Because Brianna did not attend Kleinville High School during the ninth grade and half of the tenth grade, Brianna struggled within the figured world of Kleinville High School. In understanding figured worlds as “‘as if’ realms” (Holland et al, 1998, p. 49) where “particular characters and actors are recognized, significance is assigned to certain acts, and particular outcomes are valued over others” (Holland et al, 1998, p. 52), schools as figured
worlds are places where particular participants and practices become part of a school’s culture. Consequently, students do not experience seamless transitions when they transfer between schools because each school has constant
participants (teachers, administrators, and support staff) with localized practices and performances that differ from school to school.
One way this manifested itself for Brianna was in her participation in the Spanish Language Program. Having successfully taken Spanish I and Spanish II, Brianna elected to take Honors Spanish III, where she struggled. Brianna did note the lapse in time between when she took Spanish II and Honors Spanish III as being a factor: “I think that really messed me up.” But, a pedagogical practice of the Kleinville High School’s Spanish program nonetheless worked to position her as struggling even more so. “Her way of teaching, I just didn’t like really get it … ‘cause I have to have somebody like really, really hands on like. … I just didn't really adapt to her teaching style.” Kleinville High School’s Spanish program focused on an immersion experience where Brianna’s prior experiences appeared to be more focused on isolated skills.
With my other teachers, they did vocabulary like you would get your list and then they would say the word, and you would say it with them. Then you go over by what it is and whatever. But we didn’t do that here. I think that kind of – and there was a lot of group work and I work better by myself. I can do group work fine. It’s just in some things like – I need to have like the teacher like give…instruction.
Because Brianna’s experiences at her previous school’s Spanish Program
utilized different pedagogical practices and valued alternative performances than what she experienced at Kleinville High School, Brianna found herself negatively positioned and disengaged.
English Class. When asked to describe herself within the context of her English class, Brianna’s response was, “I read a lot. I love to read. I like to write…I don't know – I like doing anything that has to do with English.” Despite Brianna’s passion for reading, this was not enough capital for Brianna to be able to distinguish herself in her English class. From in-class texts to strategy use to the Graduation Project, Brianna met with mixed opportunities in being able to position herself as a good literacy learner.
Texts. In looking at the texts Brianna encountered in her English Class, I am drawn to the contrast of her own summary of the texts read, “We’ve read some things that I like, just not all of it is interesting,” with Mr. Whitman’s
observations of Brianna, “She’s engaged when it’s something that I think she can relate to.” Brianna’s own reflections and Mr. Whitman’s observations both
illustrate how texts worked to position Brianna as engaged and unengaged. In a couple of instances, Brianna noted the frequency of use of the English textbook. “We use the [textbook] a lot. I find that kind of boring.” Likewise,
Brianna found herself unengaged in the texts of A Separate Peace and Pride and Prejudice. “Some of the things we read are older or… we read the Declaration of Independence and that doesn’t interest me.” With A Separate Peace, Brianna’s
class watched a war movie and commented, “it just doesn’t interest me.” Brianna never did finish reading Pride and Prejudice. Initially, Brianna also struggled to become engaged in To Kill A Mockingbird. It took a few chapters before she did become fully engaged. “After I got into them, I liked them.” What drew her in was getting to know the characters, their motivations and behaviors. Likewise, it was often the characters that drew Brianna’s interests with other texts, like The
Canterbury Tales and Macbeth. Brianna found the different characters interesting in The Canterbury Tales, and Macbeth turned out to be one of her favorite in- class texts. Brianna liked Macbeth because of all the complex characters. She was particularly interested in Lady Macbeth. “His wife was the one with the power and then it completely switched. I just felt that was so interesting how she goes from being this conniving person to you know, once they get it done, it ruins her.”
In addition to her interest in assigned texts, opportunities did arise to better position Brianna in the English classroom. Another text Mr. Whitman assigned that engaged Brianna was 1984 by George Orwell.
We read George Orwell in English. We did Animal Farm. I wasn’t really a fan of that one, but we read 1984 and I loved that one. And I was telling my grandpa about it and he’s like I read Animal Farm and I really liked it and I was like, well I didn’t like that one, but we also read 1984. He was like, ‘I never got to read that.’ So I got him that for Christmas and he started it and he likes it so far.
Unfortunately, Mr. Whitman did not capitalize on Brianna utilizing an in-school text to further position herself in her relationship with her grandfather as Mr.
classroom. Brianna was not given the opportunity to bring her interactions around 1984 with her grandfather into the classroom, nor was she encouraged to develop artifacts of learning in connection to her grandfather. Another
opportunity to better position Brianna as a literacy learner was through a project where Mr. Whitman noted Brianna as engaged with the poems of Emily
Dickenson. “I think that was one thing with the Emily Dickenson poem, that she found one that spoke to her on a religious level.” Mr. Whitman noticed Brianna’s interest in religion through the personal reading he saw her bring in. “If I see a title or something, it usually is something that I assume as in that genre.” But, even though Mr. Whitman often saw Brianna as engaged in texts and
assignments with religious connections, he never engaged her on that level. Yet in looking at what caused Brianna to be more engaged in particular in- school texts over other texts could be directly tied to how reading some of the complex texts within the English class helped her to be more successful and further her literacy understanding. “If I had read Macbeth on my own, I mean I could get it, but it probably wouldn’t make as much sense as it did.” Ultimately, it was through the in-class activities of vocabulary development, character analysis and discussion, making predictions, and summarization that helped Brianna become engaged and successful with many of the texts selected for classroom reading, though her out-of-school literacy practices could have helped to better position her as a literacy learner.
Strategies. Aligning with The Framework for 21st Century Learning (Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 2013), the pedagogical strategies Mr. Whitman utilized drew from the student outcomes of 21st Century Skills as represented by Life and Career Skills; Learning and Innovation Skills-the 4 Cs; Core Subjects-3Rs and 21st Century Themes; and Information, Technology, and Media Skills. The incorporation of 21st Century Skills, most specifically
technology, collaboration, and higher order questions, worked to position Brianna in the classroom both positively and negatively.
Technology enhanced learning allowed Brianna to utilize 21st Century
Skills of creativity to be engaged and demonstrate her knowledge. During classroom observations where laptops were used, Brianna used technology to find images evoked by poems, incorporate sounds, and utilized presentation formats to create PowerPoint presentations to demonstrate her learning about literary movements, characters, and themes. Brianna would painstakingly try different colors, pictures and the Paint software program to create the
backgrounds of her PowerPoint slides to help convey tone and mood.
Mr. Whitman’s technology enhanced learning strategies worked to not only help Brianna access knowledge but to also demonstrate her knowledge. In one observation she used the Internet to conduct research and document
sources on Realism beyond what was offered in the textbook and Media Center. During another observation, Brianna identified pictures that helped her to make connections in reading Edgar Lee Master’s poems Lucinda Matlock, Douglass,
and Richard Bone. Mr. Whitman noted, “it just allows them to do all these things but still have them analyze and be insightful and to come up with different things.” In doing so, Mr. Whitman “had them explain all of these things as they were presenting the images and descriptions.” “We try to get them to use this higher order of thinking skills.”
Furthermore, technology enhanced-learning empowered Brianna to demonstrate her own knowledge and learning. As noted previously, Brianna struggled with her memory. Yet when I observed her during her presentation of Realism and Naturalism, she utilized the PowerPoint she had created as a guide in organizing her presentation and what she wanted to share. Brianna did not just read from her slides, but she also further explicated key details by accessing her memory. Mr. Whitman saw technology empowering all students as it “open[ed] up the door to all the things that they can do that it’s having them do the same time-honored skills that you used in this sort of class, but you know, to bring in other mediums,” although he never commented on Brianna’s use of technology to her or in our interview.
Another pedagogical strategy that worked to position Brianna as an outcast student was collaboration. A self-proclaimed introvert, Brianna noted, “there’s a lot of group work and I work better by myself.” During my classroom observations, at the beginning of the semester, Brianna kept to herself. When assigned to a group with two other students, Brianna briefly consulted with the other two members before working by herself on her part while the other two
students worked together. As a result, Brianna’s positioning was that of loner rather than collaborator. But Mr. Whitman’s persistence to have students collaborate in a variety of groupings allowed opportunities for discussions.
Brianna’s “a very quiet student, but then sometimes she’ll just throw her hand up and just say something.” As a result, Brianna was able to sometimes reposition herself as insightful. Eventually, with Mr. Whitman’s persistence in fostering a collaborative classroom, by the end of the semester, Brianna could be observed